Listening Log Present - Vol. 8

What's a Listening Log? Well, the idea is quite simple. It's a weekly segment that consolidates all the mini-reviews Dozens Of Donuts has given on RateYourMusic over the past week, split between the Past and Present. A straightforward grading scale has been put in place, ranging from A+ to F-, with C acting as the baseline average. There is no set amount of reviews per week, just however many I get around to reviewing. And don't expect week-of reviews. I wait one month - with at least three listens under my belt - before I rate and review an album. Enjoy!

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Big K.R.I.T. | K.R.I.T. Iz Here
2019 | Southern Hip-Hop | Listen

ENOUGH OF THAT ART SHIT, GO BACK TO THE STREETS

Given Big K.R.I.T.'s reliance on the Dirty South for his income and wellbeing, expecting 4Eva Is A Mighty Long Time part two would've been a foolish assumption. This is, after all, the Mississippi emcee who lives and breathes the bootleg, mixtape movement of the late 2000's. K.R.I.T. Iz Here is in his blood, 4Eva was deep down in his heart. For his fourth LP, K.R.I.T. returns to common ground, drawing similarities to his past half-hearted efforts Live From The Underground and Cadillactica, with an extra dash of Trap thrown in to maintain relevance. The result features sprinkles of hope dashed amongst murky, southern waters.

As per usual, K.R.I.T. dabbles in excess, throwing 17 songs with two interludes into the mix. The greatest problem of K.R.I.T. Iz Here is also the artist's greatest fallacy; his lack of restraint and inability (excluding the thematic 4Eva) to provide reasons for many songs' existence. To open and close the album are a delectable array of K.R.I.T.'s many talents, with the hard-hitting 'K.R.I.T. HERE' acting as the ferocious intro, 'Make It Easy' his soulful, conscious side, and 'Addiction' the commitment to muddy Southern music ideals (even though it does parallel Kendrick Lamar's 'Swimming Pools' too closely). The Jungle rhythms of 'Life In The Sun' and the intense Swing and Brass Band stylizing of 'M.I.S.S.I.S.S.I.P.P.I.' (a sure-to-be homage to Outkast's Idlewild era) finish things out with a bang.

Much like King Remembered In Time or Cadillactica, it's the middling portions of definite filler that greatly reduces K.R.I.T. Iz Here's potential for impact. A barrage of lackluster Contemporary R&B/Trap crossovers designed for sleazy strip clubs hit one after another come 'Energy,' and the tedium remains until the fierce Dirty South of 'Learned From Texas.' Not even J.Cole on 'Prove It' can ignite the inside portion of this LP, with 'I Made,' 'Everytime,' and 'Believe' all dead weight that could've, and should've, been dropped at a moments notice. As per usual, a decently strong K.R.I.T. album had it been ten tracks and not 19 (with interludes that, in accordance with Hip-Hop tradition, add nothing to the whole).

C-

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